I would like to say that I am self taught in photography. What the heck does that mean? Does that mean I picked up a camera and just figured it out by myself? Heck no! I actually have read countless books, watched many tutorials online, or picked the brains of other photographers to learn everything I know.

Recently I gave away several dozen books to other photographers – I wasn’t going to be reading them again and I figured they weren’t doing any good on my shelf. And there is always some new book out there for me to read. Well, I found a new book!

David Ziser is a wedding photographer based in Tennessee or Kentucky (I can’t tell the two states apart). And he has been photographing for years upon years and he knows the practical lighting as well as a ton of tips and tricks. He has a great blog that will help anyone interested in photographing people and weddings.

And he just released a great book that I have been lusting for for some time now. And Captured by the Light: The Essential Guide to Creating Extraordinary Wedding Photography just arrived from amazon.com and I am loving it. I would buy it from amazon.com and save some coin since regular bookstores are selling it for $55 m.s.r.p.

It is just packed with so much information it might take me a few days to get through – once I get through the book I will probably give it away. But I would recommend you run (don’t walk) to your computer and buy a copy.

This is pretty cool – the two top 50mm lenses from Nikon and Canon. You will probably notice the size difference between the two lenses. Canon’s 50mm lens has a über wide aperture of f/1.2 and Nikon is limited to f/1.4.

People will often complain that professional lenses weigh so much – well that is due to physics and if the lens is made out of metal, alloy, or plastic. More and more Nikon lenses are made from plastic – at least on the outside.

Will Nikon ever make an f/1.2 50mm lens? They already do! However, it is manual focus. I have heard from someone who heard from someone who works on Nikon lenses that the Nikon mount cannot support an f/1.2 lens if that lens has a focusing motor onboard. I don’t know if that is true. However, Nikon’s lack of f/1.2 is one reason I am adopting some Canon gear.

Nikon f/1.4 vs. Canon f/1.2

And aperture really is my deciding factor when buying a lens. If I can afford the wider aperture (lower numbers) then I will buy it. Otherwise I will upgrade when I can. The Canon lens is so much larger because the glass has to be so much wider. It is huge! But it helps the camera shoot in the dark and my favorite feature is the control over the depth of field.

Nikon f/1.4 vs. Canon f/1.2

Nikon f/1.4 vs. Canon f/1.2

Lightroom 3 Beta 2

S-Curve

I usually don’t bother using beta software – beta software is used for testing and is often buggy and not fully reliable. However, it is also cutting edge – it has the latest features for software that will be released at a later date.

Adobe Lightroom is the most popular software used to manage, edit and work with photographs for photographers. I have been using it since version 1.5. I have played with their beta software for about 5 minutes total – just to get a feel of what new features are coming in future releases. And I am excited for Adobe Lightroom 3!

The latest beta has a real curves tool! Just like in Adobe Photoshop you can now play with the curves and you can be boring with the typical S-Curve or you can go nuts! Here are a few examples of the curves tool in action. You can be sure I will be using the curves tool on my photographs – I love the S-Curve it is one of the best basic edits you can do to make your photograph fantastic.

Going Nuts with the Curve Tool

Chances of me going nuts like the second example? Slim to none. However, the curves tool is extremely powerful. You can create some awesome effects. Now I just wish I could stack the curves tool with more curves. In Photoshop I will often have 2 curves adjustment layers.

And maybe in the next version of Lightroom they will have a feature to design wedding albums from within Lightroom. Apple’s Aperture lets you do that and it is a pretty cool feature.

The results of nuts

I love my new camera bag – I have as many camera bags as some people have purses. This is my rolling bag that carries all my essential cameras, lenses, and some flashes.

And why I am blogging about it today? The security features built in to the bag. There are two locks for the bag. One lock is to keep the bag closed and the second lock can be used to attache the back to something stationary. Just my luck today I am showing the back locked to a plastic chair at an event from the weekend. In the future I will be doing my best to lock the back to something more solid.

Typically I like to keep things locked out of sight – maybe in the truck of the car. If that isn’t available you have to hide your bag at an event – maybe there is a backroom that limits access to the general public.

The best security is to keep your gear on you. If you can’t, then keep it out of view and as many obstacles such as locks to keep it safe.

Lock up your camera gear!

Think Tank Photo Airport Security 2

When you are photographing an event you need to photograph the details. Signs, decorations, food and more all help tell the story of the event. (Don’t forget the people).

This weekend I photographed a party in Salt Lake City, Utah. When the food is ready at an event you don’t have a lot of time to get the shots but you want to get them done right. Often the food is ready and people are already lining up to get food.

At events you can’t be weighed down with huge studio lights – you travel light and you want to move fast and get out of people’s way. Below I have my lighting setup – the Nikon SB-800 speedlight is attached to a Lastolite Ezybox 24″ on a Manfrotto light stand.

Lastolite Ezybox with Nikon SB-800

I always photograph in manual mode and I used the Nikon’s wireless TTL lighting system. I will be writing up some better blog posts how to use the Nikon Creative Lighting System in the future.

And here is a sample photograph from that evening (P.S. the food was delicious!). The food was catered by Bambara in Salt Lake City.

Sample food photograph